Gail Perry is a multifaceted creative professional. While completing her B.F.A. in Communication Arts, she won a national competition sponsored by Saatchi & Saatchi that landed her a high-level art director position right out of college. After seven nonstop years working in Manhattan agencies and San Francisco design studios, Gail formed her own graphic design business in the San Francisco Bay Area. See samples of her designs, from wine labels to billboards, at gailjohnstondesign.com.
Every few years, Gail pitches a concept to a publisher on a topic she is passionate about. Her first book, A Rumor of Angels, coauthored with her sister, was represented by Michael Larsen and published by Ballantine Books. Her second, The Wish, the Wait and the Wonder, was published by HarperSanFrancisco.
During the recession, when design work was scarce, she founded Cupola Press to republish those two books, which had gone out of print. Soon, aspiring authors began seeking her help, so she went on to publish other nonfiction works as well as illustrated children's books. Although she is no longer building Cupola Press, a few of its titles are still available.
Her relationship with Workman Publishing began with her role as an illustrator. After illustrating a few of their page-a-day® calendars, she proposed a calendar on the subject of working from home. They didn’t like the idea until the pandemic hit. Then they contracted with Gail to write, design and illustrate two years of the Working From Home page-a-day calendar.
Next came two years of the Walks of the World page-a-day series, for which she developed a strong social media presence @gailperrytreks. During the peak promotional months for Walks of the World, she averaged 130,000 monthly views across Meta platforms. She continues to create content guided by the motto: The trails are for everyone.
See Current Book Project.